


The Solo Case

by MortisBane



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Huxloween, M/M, Minor Character Death, October 1 - Unresolved Mysteries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 13:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12233781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MortisBane/pseuds/MortisBane
Summary: Hux uncovers a clue to a long unsolved case regarding the Solo household, and takes it upon himself to investigate further.Day one Huxloween 2017 promt: Unresolved Mysteries





	The Solo Case

The Solo Case

As much as he hated his father, and his father hated him, the blood relationship between them still had its perks for Armitage Hux.  As the senior police chief’s son, he was given many special opportunities to look through case files that his criminal justice peers did not.  He was never allowed to look through open cases however, which hadn’t stopped him from trying, there were too many legal regulations that kept the detectives from allowing him to look.  However, they were far more lenient with the unsolved cold cases, gathering dust in the back of the filing cabinets.

Which lead him here, spending his friday night, hunched over a table, a stack a files on his right illuminated by one desk lamp, skimming over case synopses and evidence, trying to wrap his brain around possible solutions.  Many were missing person's reports, with little evidence or suspects.  Some dating back to the late seventies, clearly after five years the cases were abandoned, whoever was missing, was either dead, or didn’t want to be found.

This was his third weekend spent looking through old cases, not making any astounding discoveries, like he had hoped, as to rocket his career forward a bit ahead of schedule.  Nothing stood out or was even slightly different, all the cases were on the same level with the amount of evidence, which is to be expected with how long these cases had been unresolved, but he was at least hoping to find one case that he could bring new eyes to and see something overlooked.  But too many of them he had to move on from, they were clear that it was too late to salvage anything new from them.

It was nearing one in the morning, Hux’s eyes dry and straining against the dim light, fatigue seeping into his muscles.  He’d just put off the latest folder to his left, the stack there now larger than the one to the right.  He slid over the next file, rubbing at his eyes gently, half debating over just going back home and to sleep.  But his hand was already pulling it open, and when he opened his eyes he moved right on to the text.

**Solo, Han:**

Age: 45

Cause of Death: Stab to abdominal region

**Solo, Ben:**

Age: 15

Last Seen: October 1, 1996

Hux paused then, checking the front of the folder.  “The Solo Case” was all it read.  It was the first case he’d come across with two victims.  He quickly read the victim bios and moved on to the scene description.  

The police were called to the home on October 1st, by the wife of Han Solo, she had returned home late to find her husband dead on the living room floor and her son nowhere to be found.  The first responders found the house in disarray, broken glass, upturned furniture, broken in doors.  It was unclear what the initial intent of the crime had been.  When detectives arrived and began scouting the home, what they came away with that it's was a home kidnapping of the son, where the father was killed in order to reach the son.  Ben’s room was the most trashed of any room, appearing like a struggle had occurred, that lead into the livingroom, where the fighting continued ending in Han Solo being stabbed  and bleeding out on the carpet.  The only blood found anywhere onscene was that of Han and Ben Solo’s, no other DNA evidence was found, except some skin cells, most likely lost in the altercation between them and Han Solo or the boy.  But they were only found in the livingroom, and were very hard to find at that.  The murder weapon was never found either.  Search parties went out around town and to nearby counties, lasting for nearly six months before they had to give up on finding the son.  To this day nothing else had been found regarding this case, Han Solo was buried shortly after the autopsy, and after the search parties were called off, many people believed that Ben Solo was most likely dead as well.

Hux sat a moment in thought, once reaching the end of the case notes.  It had been unsolved for many years, many people having even forgotten that such a terrible thing even happened in this town.  A fire lit within him, something about this case really piquing his interest.  All previous fatigue forgotten, Hux jumped from his seat, rushing around to put away the folders in their proper place, leaving out the Solo case. With the desk clear he pulled out his laptop, popping it open and beginning his further research into the murder slash kidnapping.

The first thing he found was on the wife, Leia Organa-Solo, aparently, nearly as soon as they called off the search for her son, she left, not just the town but the state all together.  She moved closer to Washington D.C. delving completely into her work, making it up into White House staff.  In regards to the son, Ben Solo was last seen at school that day, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary for the boy, left school on time, he always walked, and as far as anyone knew, he had made it home that afternoon.

Hux uncovered a lot of photos of the boy, used in the search, newspaper articles and news broadcastings.  His hair was short and black, but in the later photos, he’d let it grow out past his large ears, his nose was very prominent and he stood very tall against his peers.  He was surprisingly cute, which Hux never usually thought about others, and he sort of wished he knew what the boy would look like today, he’d be only a few years younger than Hux.  He tried not to dwell too long on pictures of a most likely dead boy.

The last thing Hux uncovered, and the most motivating, was the exact location of Han Solo’s grave.  He found the online newspaper article describing the ceremony, the location and a picture of the grave itself.  There was a large gathering for anyone who were friend’s of the family.  Alongside the picture of the grave, was a picture of all the attendants aswell, and unless Hux’s eyes were deceiving him, it looked like off to the side, half hidden by two larger people, was a young teen.  With long black hair, a protruding nose, standing tall trying his best to hide his face.  It looked like a splitting image of Ben Solo, attending his father’s funeral, a week after he was declared missing.  

The more he stared the more certain Hux became.  Without missing another beat, Hux hooked up his laptop to the printer, printing off both the newspaper article, and any pictures he could find of Ben Solo.  He stuffed them inside the folder with the rest of the case, packed up the rest of his belongings, and hurried out of the room.  It was quiet in the office, everyone having gone home already, even Hux’s father, who, in his later years, has been spending less and less time down at the station.  He maneuvered his way out of the dark office, making sure to lock up behind him.  He wished there was someone to share his findings with, but he would rather show his discovery in front of his father, to show the bastard that he didn’t need him to be successful.  He could wait until tomorrow to shove it in the fat man’s face.  First however, he had one more thing he felt he needed to check out.

The evening was cool and crisp, the leaf covered ground lit lightly only by street lamps and the moon’s glow.  But the closer he got to his destination, the farther and farther spaced the streetlamps became, and before he knew it, it was just him and the shadows, moon offering very little aid in the night.  He was stuck in his mind, paying little extra thought to the world around him, trying to fathom the truth as to what happened October 1, 1996.  If Ben Solo had gone missing, how had he been at his father’s funeral, and not noticed, and who is the unknown third person whose DNA was found in the living room.  There was a bit he was missing, a part that would connect the pieces of the puzzle.  And as he arrived at his destination, he hoped that maybe, just maybe this would shine light on the missing piece.

The cemetry gates loomed overhead, poorly lit and hard to read, but clear to what it was.  He saw the tombstones lined across the lightly rolling hills, ranging in sizes and designs, only interrupted by statutes or mausoleums.  The gates were closed and locked up for the night, but that wasn’t going to stop Hux, another perk to being Brendol’s son, he can get away with most minor crimes.  He slid his slim laptop bag through the bars first, then gripping on bar in each hand he hefted himself up slowly with his upper body strength.  The chill of the metal felt like it was burning his bare skin spurring him to heave himself up and over quicker.  Once back on the ground he grabbed his bag and blew on his hands, trying to lessen the red marks across his palms.

He moved down the path slowly, brushing leaves out of his way as he went, feeling his cheeks redden in the cold, but he at least knew where he was headed.  Han Solo’s grave was towards the center of the cemetery, right near the mausoleum of Anakin Skywalker, his father in law.  It was the largest in the cemetery, Skywalker having been a local war hero, one of the few this town had ever seen, and was given his own space for him and his family after his death.  All of which made Hux’s job a lot easier.

He scanned over the stones, finding a morbid enjoyment in seeing the life spans and eras the people had lived in.  Over the hill he saw the statue come into view, of Anakin and his co-commander Ben Kenobi standing tall in uniform.  Hurrying faster, he approached the statue seeing the mausoleum underneath it, and the few graves that surrounded it.  Han’s should be off to the left side of the stone building, standing alone, awaiting his family to join him.  Rounding the stone the grave came into sight, and Hux froze just around the corner.

A man stood there, in front of the grave, head downcast to the grass, a large hoodie covering his head, and his hands shoved into his pockets.  He was fairly tall, exceeding Hux’s height by about maybe two inches.  He had black hair spilling out from under his hood, and at this angle, Hux could see the man’s nose, that protruded from his face.  He didn’t say anything, but the leaves at his feet betrayed him, letting the man know of his arrival.

He turned slowly, seemingly reluctant to reveal his face, but eventually faced Hux, showing off a face that was undoubtedly Ben Solo’s.  The pair stared at each other in silence, amber eyes locked with pale green.  Hux held onto the strap of his laptop bag, as if it were to somehow protect him.  The man gave him a weak smile, showing his tired eyes to the light of the moon.

“Hello.”  His voice was so deep, it hit Hux to his core, but somehow not in a bad way.  Hux looked him over, but the man’s posture seemed so resigned and tired.

“Hello.”  He responded, holding his head up a bit higher.  The man looked back over at the grave for a moment, then back at Hux, somehow looking more somber.

“What brings you here?”  Hux looked him over again quickly.  He didn’t seem at all menacing or accusatory.

“I’m investigating that man’s death.”

“Looks like you might be a little late for that.  This one’s in the ground already.”  His attempt at humor was so defeated sounding, that neither of them smiled at it.

“Yes, I’m just checking some theories about the funeral, do you know the story behind this one?”  The other man nodded slowly, turning back to the grave.

“Yeah, he died and his son went missing, and I see they still never solved that mystery.”  Hux stepped slowly closer to the man, keeping enough distance between them.

“Yes, but I have found something that was overlooked.”

“Oh?”  The man took his large hands from his pockets, wringing them together.  “And what’s that?”

“That one of the pictures published in the newspaper, actually captures the son, a week after he was meant to be missing.”  The man’s hand’s froze, clasped together.

“Really, that’s surprising.”

“Stop playing coy, you’re Ben Solo, aren’t you.”  The man looked up from the grave, taking a deep breath and slowly turned back to Hux.

“I prefer Kylo Ren now.”  Hux furrowed his brows.

“What are you doing here.”

“I guess it’s only fair to answer.”  He sighed deeply.  “Wanted to say goodbye, I’m leaving again, somewhere I may never return and…”  He began wringing his hands together again, looking down at the grave again.  “I wanted to leave on semi good terms.”

“Did you kill him?”  Kylo didn’t answer.  “Who was the other person there that day?”  He still didn’t answer.  “Was the other person the one that killed Han Solo?”

“You can’t expect me to spoil a good mystery.”  He chuckled dryly.  “I can say, it wasn’t the intent of that day for him to die.  Who did it, I’m not allowed to say.”

“Who’s keeping you from telling me.”  Kylo didn’t answer.

“I always wondered what it was like to be him,” he said instead, “to be a father, with a fuck up of a kid.  That he stilled loved even until the end.”  His hands were wringing even more now.  “I wanted to know...what it was like to love someone, like how he loved his son, like how he loved his wife.  Where I’ve been, I hadn’t been able to love.  There was no one for me.  When I was someone else, maybe that was an option, but now, I don’t think so.  I’ve never felt the warm caress of another, or the feel of someone's lips upon my own.”  Hux watched as Kylo stuffed his hands in his hoodie and turned to face him again.  “Who are you.”

“Hux, son of senior the senior police chief here in town.”

“Could you do a favor for an old soul?”  Hux watched him wearily, but didn’t move to deny him yet.  “Could you...allow me to kiss you?”

“Kiss a stranger, at two in the morning, in the middle of a cemetery, in front of his dead father’s grave.”

“I said it was a favor, not a demand.”

“Will you at least tell me something regarding what happen?”  Kylo thought about that for a moment, running a hand down his face.

“Sure, I can tell you one thing.”  Hux stepped closer towards Kylo, raising his chin up higher.  The pale man’s face heated up under Hux’s gaze, and he took a bit of pride in that.  Neither of them moved for a moment, Kylo seeming to give into his bashfulness.

“Could-could you maybe, lead me in this.”  Hux smirked up at him, Kylo avoiding his gaze.  Hux reached up cupping the man’s cheeks in his hands, turning him to face him.  Slowly he closed the gap between them, locking their chapped lips together, Kylo flinching at the touch.  He moved slowly, moving the kiss along gently, pushing past the part in his mind that told him how everything about this was a bad idea, and just allowed himself to slip into the feeling of the kiss.  Kylo was very stiff, just allowing Hux to kiss him, but quickly began to follow after him, mimicking his actions.  Slowly he relaxed into it his hands coming to rest atop Hux’s.

When Hux pulled away Kylo was breathing hard, eyes lidded looking down at him.  He licked his lips, in an astounded way, like he’d never tasted anything new upon them before.

“Thank you.”  He breathed, smiling crookedly.  Hux stepped back, watching Kylo’s arms fall limply to his sides.  He turned back to the tombstone slowly, and raised a hand to touch his lips.

“I hope that was good.”  Kylo just nodded.  He stepped closer towards the grave, running a hand gently across the stone.  He whispered something quietly to himself, caressing the name carved in the rock.  Hux allowed him his moment, standing off to the side just waiting.  When he stepped back, he checked his watch, shoulder slumping.

“I have to get going, he will be expecting me soon.”

“Who is he?”

“I promised you one,”

“And what is my one?”  Kylo looked over to him, smiling sadly.

“Ben Solo wasn’t kidnapped that day many years ago, but he didn’t leave willingly.”  Hux furrowed his brows, but didn’t object to demand more.  “It was nice to meet someone, though if you could do me another favor?”

“Haven’t I done enough already?”

“Like I said, it’s a favor not a demand.”  They stood in silence for just a moment, listening to the wind rustling the leaves.  “For the sake of Ben Solo and his father, let the truth behind them remain a mystery.  They’re both dead, and the secrets behind that family should be left alone, please.”  Hux watched him, but didn’t answer, not wanting to decide now before the man.

“Goodbye Kylo, take care of yourself.”  Kylo smiled at him, the most genuine smile he’d seen from the man all night and lowered his hood, revealing his entire mop of hair.

“Goodbye Hux, and thank you.”  They locked eyes once more, then Kylo turned walking away, the shadows of the cemetery swallowing him whole.  And Hux watched him go, staring off into the darkness after he’d gone.  Until he was alone with the howls of owls, and rustle of leaves.

Saturday morning, when Hux walked into the police station, the Solo Case stuffed into his laptop bad, he looked around the room of detectives and officers.  They were all busy at work, slaving over their computers and papers, answering phone calls and relaxing with some coffee.  He saw his father back in his office, head in one hand, a phone to his ear in the other, looking stretched thin.  Hux stepped further into the station, and made for the unclaimed office, the one he hoped would be his one day soon.  Closing the door behind him, and pulling out the Solo Case.  He looked inside the file one last time.  Reread the same words he’d read last night, and spent a long time looking at the photos of Ben Solo.  He pulled out one, the last picture taken of the boy before he disappeared.  Running a thumb over his face, he stuffed the photo back into his bag and headed towards the paper shredder with the rest of the file. Slowly, one by one he shredded every last bit of the Solo Case.


End file.
